Turkey day at pre-school!

Today, Kabir's class celebrated Thanksgiving. Feast was planned, parents were invited. There was lots of excitement!

I walked into Kabir's classroom and saw him dressed up as a turkey! He had shared with me that he was making a turkey costume in class but to see it in real was another thing. So beautiful and creative and he looked super cute wearing it!

PAC did a great job with the kids activities. Children wrote what they were thankful for, painted picture frames and made their own turkeys; a hammering activity which was so unique and such a big hit!

A parent got a polaroid camera and took pictures of children with their parents, to put in the freshly painted frames! What a great thought. A keepsake for years and years to come!

Children sang the Albuquerque is a turkey song that they had been practicing in the class! They all did such a great job! In the past, Kabir would usually be quiet but this time he was singing! It was such a joy to watch and listen to him sing with his friends!

The lyrics of the song go like this:

Albuquerque is a turkey,
And he's feathered and he's fine.
And he wobbles, and he gobbles,
And he's absolutely mine.

He's the best pet that you can get,
Better than a dog or cat.
Albuquerque, he's my turkey,
And I'm awfully proud of that.

It was a cheerful and a much enjoyable day that ended with a big feast! :)

School events this year are bittersweet for me as I know they are his last with this group. Next year Kabir will go to kindergarten. Kabir loves his pre-school and is thriving in this beautiful environment with great teachers and a wonderful set of friends who love him. So much to be thankful for!

Keeping traditions alive!

This has been a week of festivities! We just passed Diwali and today is Tikka.

Diwali was my favorite festival growing up. I loved the mood, the hustle-bustle in the markets, the gift giving, the sharing, the diyas and the candles that adorned the houses, the rangoli, visiting relatives. It was all fun except the firecrackers. Daddy would still bring some silent ones for us and we would burn them on the terrace.

Here, it is different but I try to bring a little flavor of it for the boys to experience.

A few days before Diwali, I was talking to kabir about it and said we'll decorate the house for Diwali. His instantaneous response, "So can we bring the ghost out?"
Me: No, it's Diwali, the festival of lights. We'll light candles and decorate that way.
Kabir: Will Santa come?

I knew I had to go up a notch this time.

Since Diwali was on a weekday, it was a bit hectic but I did what I could! The prep started the night before. That day, I got back from work around 4:30 pm and started working on the special dinner that I had planned for us; Chole, Kulche and Halwa!

Later, adorned in Indian clothes, we lit candles and did a prayer. Boys got some cash gifts (just like Sumit and I did growing up) which went into their piggy banks and we enjoyed eating together, the special dinner, Kabir called Diwali food! :)

While driving Kabir to school the next day, he and I talked about why Diwali is celebrated and why it is called the festival of lights?
Kabir, after listening to my short story, asked "Why did Lord Rama go to exile?"
Indian mythology is complex to say the least. Hard to give a good answer with reasoning and logic. Lord Rama just did it out of obedience..hmm, not sure Kabir would get that! :)

Now that Diwali was over, it was time for Tikka, which is celebrated two days after Diwali. Even though it is a festival that celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters, I celebrate it with the boys every year. I miss Sumit terribly and remember our childhood each time. I hope we are together one of the coming years to celebrate it together again.

I was taking to Kabir about Tikka last night and mentioned that I would give him a present but it's a surprise. He couldn't wait to know what it was! While going to bed, he said "Ma, you can tell me the surprise, I won't tell anyone, I'll keep it a secret." :)

I told him, a surprise is a surprise and he'll just have to wait! Poor child had to sleep thinking about it.

This morning, he was all excited! We did a sweet little ceremony and the boys were happy with their presents! :)

 

Halloween 2015

Halloween, this year was way more exciting than it has ever been for us! In the past, it was about costumes and trick-er-treating. This year, we had decorations, a costume party at home, a visit to the haunted house and trick-er-treating! All on Kabir's request and all so much fun!

While the boys had fun picking out their costumes, dressing up and participating in parades, I enjoyed preparing spooky snacks for the get-together, which attracted a lot of our neighbors!

The boys also enjoyed the celebration and class parties at their pre-school. Kabir even participated in the pumpkin race! :)

I decorated the table with some edible spiders, ghosts, bats and a couple of varieties of food that looked like pumpkins. Too bad I couldn't capture all the food in close up shots except a few items. There were also regular looking finger food for the adults.

I had so much fun preparing the spooky snacks, so much so that, I am tempted to make this event an annual affair! :)

It was a fun Friday and Saturday for us with Sunday being a much welcomed recovery day! :) Hope everyone had a fun and spooky halloween!